John Malkovich was set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Ivan Kragoff, aka the Red Ghost, in The Fantastic Four: First Steps. We even caught a glimpse of Malkovich in the first teaser trailer, but director Matt Shakman has told Variety that he’s had to cut him out of the movie.
Malkovich was to be featured in an early sequence of the movie, with the Fantastic Four battling Red Ghost and his Super-Apes. “There were a lot of things that ultimately ended up hitting the cutting room floor,” Shakman explained. “When we were building a ’60s retro-future world, introducing all of these villains, introducing these four main characters as a group, as well as individually, introducing the idea of a child — there was a lot of stuff to balance in this movie and some things had to go ultimately in terms of shaping the film for its final version.“
Shakman added that Malkovich was “brilliant” in the film and “gave it his all,” which made it all the more “heartbreaking” when he realized he had to leave him on the cutting room floor.
It was heartbreaking not to include him in the final version of the movie because he’s one of my very favorite humans and one of my biggest inspirations. As a person who walks the line between theater and film and television, there’s no one who is more inspiring than the founder of Steppenwolf Theater Company. What he’s done on stage as an actor and what he’s done as a director in theater as well as in film, and as just a film actor of incredible ability — I was honored he came to play.
Given that Malkovich has previously turned down roles in Marvel movies, it’s a shame he was cut out of the one he did accept.
The official synopsis for The Fantastic Four: First Steps: “Set against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” introduces Marvel’s First Family—Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and Ben Grimm/The Thing as they face their most daunting challenge yet. Forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, they must defend Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus (Ralph Ineson) and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer (Julia Garner). And if Galactus’ plan to devour the entire planet and everyone on it weren’t bad enough, it suddenly gets very personal.”
The film will hit theaters on July 25.
